oil change for my rx8

dug06824

Member
i want to do t the first oil change on my 05 rx8 i have 6000 miles i bought it new in april.... the dealer is busy and i thought i would pick up the filter and oil and bring it to a local lube shop i heard that wix makes a good oil filter . what is everyone using the dealer sells a oil filter for $6.25 which is cheaper than the wix .. any comments?
 
They recommend going that long before the first oil change? well I guess it isn't that far over the 3 month or 3k mile change interval I normally use, though I think my manual says 7k or so?
 
I'd have the dealer do it. It says do a oil change at least every three months, and dont use syn-oil it will hurt the engine. There is a "TSB" about it. I have never had too add oil between changes. It is 1.8qts between the low and high mark on the dip-stick and my car does less then 3k when it gets close to the add mark. So I get a filter and oil done at the dealer for about $30. Its cheap insurance. Remember to check it every 1k, its an oil injected engine and it better be burning oil or your in trouble. This is my 7th rotary....love them.
 
Agree with Old Rotor. With a car that new, and warranty to worry about, I'd let the dealer or at least a certified tech do it.....just so I had a paper trail. And as for WIX filters, I don't like them. I do my own changes (but long ago gave up warranty concerns :( ) MAZDA OEM filters are pretty good, but aren't has convenient for me to get. I usually go with Purolator PURE ONE filters from the local auto parts store.
And I would never go 6k between changes. 2.5 to 3k. But maybe that's just me.
 
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oil change rx8

i heard my car really has about 7 qts because three qts are in the oil cooler , can that oil be changed as well? in ct where i live there is only one mazda dealer ship in the area 25 miles away . Dworken mazda ; and they are always busy and only have one or two mazda techs ,i guess i will go to the dealer at least for the first change but i would like to bring a better quality oil filter with me so what is better than stock kn? wix? perc? i dont care for my leather seats as compared to my svt focus i traded in the leather is already faded , which brings another question what is everyone using on the seats/ thanks
 
I won't get into the synthetic vs. dino oil in the rotary this has been beat to death. You might want to go the rx8club.com or rx7club.com those sites are rotary specific.
The only time you will drain the entire system of oil is if you service the oil cooler or the lines. I agree with the above posters just change your oil between 2.5-4.0k miles and you will keep the oil in the cooler clean. The n/a rotary motor is not that hard on oil, but remember the rotary uses oil to cool the engine as well as lubricate, so it does do double duty.
As far as filters go, I own a repair shop and we use Napa filters. The Napa gold is a fine filter, as is the Wix and Purolator. I have used Mazda oem filters for years on my RX-7's as well. Oil recomendation (unless for race prep) use Valvoline in the recomended weight in the owners manual. Valvoline was the recomended oil in my 1980 RX-7 when I purchaed it new and I still use it in my 3rd gen RX-7 (1994 model). I use 20/50 racing in the summer and a 10-30 in the winter.

Now for racing applications I recomend a synthetic, but remember that we usually do away with the OMP, and premix.

On the seats use Lexol (spelling) leather conditioner. They make a cleaner as well. I also keep some Armor All leather wipes around for touch ups.

Back to your filter, don't bring your own. If the filter fails for some strange reason, you just bought the motor. (I know this is a more complex discussion, but you will have to sue most likely) Have them install an OEM filter. They are just fine. As posters and I have said, change the oil more often, the filter will not be as important as clean oil. (that said, don't use a Fram or non branded filters)

Good luck.
 
cpa7man said:
......Valvoline was the recomended oil in my 1980 RX-7 when I purchaed it new and I still use it in my 3rd gen RX-7 (1994 model). I use 20/50 racing in the summer and a 10-30 in the winter.
Off topic, but I couldn't help but notice this.^
I bought my first RX7 new in 1981. A red 'S' model. God I loved that car. At least where I live, they were still a bit of a novelty and buying one made you sort of a rebel. :)
 
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Jim, I bought that one and my 1st wife got it in our split up, I then went out and got the GSL in 1981. Had to sell if for a minivan 5 years later.....such is life. The first gen has a great personality as do most Mazda cars, I just went to Houston last year and picked up a GSL-SE to restore.

Ok that's enought, sorry about the thread jack.

Dug - how do you like the RX-8 so far?
 
cpa7man said:
Jim, I bought that one and my 1st wife got it in our split up, I then went out and got the GSL in 1981. Had to sell if for a minivan 5 years later.....such is life. The first gen has a great personality as do most Mazda cars, I just went to Houston last year and picked up a GSL-SE to restore.

Ok that's enought, sorry about the thread jack.

Dug - how do you like the RX-8 so far?
l love my rx 8 i had the local expressway do it after i saw that two other rx8s in my town were having them done there . boy that sure looks like a little oil filter but then again the engine is small also i have had 4 cars in my life that i always had a smile on my face when i drove them a toyota mr2 a toyota supra (wonderful seats) my svt focus and now my rx8 I always wanted a rx7 but at the time the price was to steep for me
 
ummm.... dont rx-8's need 2 cycle oil in each gas tank?

i was told by a friend of mine with an rx-7 that no owners seem to realize this and the absence of it will ruin the engine and void mazda's warranty.
 
02PROTEGE2.0 said:
ummm.... dont rx-8's need 2 cycle oil in each gas tank?

i was told by a friend of mine with an rx-7 that no owners seem to realize this and the absence of it will ruin the engine and void mazda's warranty.

thats up to the owner of the car.....pre-mix can help with engine wear, but is not 'needed' for proper opperation, and esp not for the warranty.
 
ah i see... i was under the impression that the way the engine was made it needs it... i dont think soemthing like engine lubricant can be opyional?> but u own it so i believe u.
 
oil in gas for rx8????????????????

02PROTEGE2.0 said:
ah i see... i was under the impression that the way the engine was made it needs it... i dont think soemthing like engine lubricant can be opyional?> but u own it so i believe u.
would someonje clarify if i need to start adding 2 cycle oil to my gas i dont see it mentioned in my owners manual
 
as the guy who commented back to me said it seems to be optional... you may pm him about the details of premix....
 
Premix is something you can do if you would like. It will go against what your owners manual says (they always says never add anything other than gas to your gas tank...no octane boosters, no oil, no injector cleaner, ect).

The rotary engine needs lubrication on the seals in the motor. The engine injects oil into the combustion chamber for lubrication. Thats why the engine uses oil, and you will see rotary engines making oil smoke (esp on a cold startup).

You can add premix (either 2cycle engine oil or special products made just for use as premix) to the gas tank....they are diluted down and injected into the engine via the fuel injectors.

Using premix will lower the octane raiting of the fuel, as well as make the car run a slight bit leaner....but millions of people have been adding premix to all kinds of rotary engines for years with no problems.

The extra lubrication can help reduce wear in the engine as well as increase compression.....giving better performance and economy.

Its totaly up to the owner, as long as you run the right kind of engine oil and you keep it full (check the level every 2-3 fill ups) you will be fine.

Also keep in mind that running to much premix will put more stress on the fuel pump, filter and injectors (since the fuel would be thicker and harder to move) but if you were to add enough oil to make your gas thick enough to damage anything....your car wouldnt run cause it couldnt burn the mix anyway.
 
KYLiquid said:
Premix is something you can do if you would like. It will go against what your owners manual says (they always says never add anything other than gas to your gas tank...no octane boosters, no oil, no injector cleaner, ect).

The rotary engine needs lubrication on the seals in the motor. The engine injects oil into the combustion chamber for lubrication. Thats why the engine uses oil, and you will see rotary engines making oil smoke (esp on a cold startup).

You can add premix (either 2cycle engine oil or special products made just for use as premix) to the gas tank....they are diluted down and injected into the engine via the fuel injectors.

Using premix will lower the octane raiting of the fuel, as well as make the car run a slight bit leaner....but millions of people have been adding premix to all kinds of rotary engines for years with no problems.

The extra lubrication can help reduce wear in the engine as well as increase compression.....giving better performance and economy.

Its totaly up to the owner, as long as you run the right kind of engine oil and you keep it full (check the level every 2-3 fill ups) you will be fine.

Also keep in mind that running to much premix will put more stress on the fuel pump, filter and injectors (since the fuel would be thicker and harder to move) but if you were to add enough oil to make your gas thick enough to damage anything....your car wouldnt run cause it couldnt burn the mix anyway.

Good post except the fact that lowering the octane is irrrelevant to the n/a rotary, and I hardly think that you could measure the viscosity increase in the fuel with 1/2 oz per gallon as recomended by Pettit, hence I disagree with your assesment of stress on fuel system components. (enguard)

If your an engineer and you have calculated the increase in viscosity I will retract my comment.:)
 
cpa7man said:
Good post except the fact that lowering the octane is irrrelevant to the n/a rotary, and I hardly think that you could measure the viscosity increase in the fuel with 1/2 oz per gallon as recomended by Pettit, hence I disagree with your assesment of stress on fuel system components. (enguard)

If your an engineer and you have calculated the increase in viscosity I will retract my comment.:)

1) octane raiting is not only for boost, but also static compression of the motor. The RX8 does have a 10:1 compression ratio, while not THAT high....it could suffer from knock with low octane. I know for a fact that the rx8 (10:1) and older rotarys (8:1 or 9:1 cant remember exactly) can run fine on 87 (low) octane, but if you were to mix in enough oil, you could lower the octane of the gas a few points....possibly enough to cause some knock.

2) I did say if you run TOO MUCH premix it could put stress on the fuel system. There people out there that I have seen run as much as 1-2oz per gallon of gas......also the fact that people use differnt weights of 2 cycle oil and that oil will increase in viscosity more based on temp than gasoline will..........so again, if you had too much in the tank it could pose a problem. Also note that I said if you were to run enough to damage anything, chances are the car wouldnt even run cause of how much oil there was in the fuel (not enough to ignite).
 

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